1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a geometric device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a geometric puzzle constructed in the form of a great dodecahedron having movable surface elements that can be repositined on different faces of the great dodecahedron and in varying relationships with each other, without disassembly.
2. Prior Art
Amusement devices in the shape of three dimensional geometric solids, in the form of cubes, rectanguloids, pyramids, orbs or more sophisticated shapes, have provided challenge and entertainment for many years. These puzzle devices range from those consisting of a few pieces which can be easily assembled to those which include several pieces having intricate interlocking shapes requiring assembly in a precise order.
For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,461,574 there is disclosed an educational toy which includes a series of nesting polyhedra, all of different sizes and shapes and all but the smallest formed of two telescopingly interfitting numbers. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,565,422 a three-sided pyramid is disclosed which is assembled from an octahedron and four smaller pyramids. The faces of the pyramids and the octahedron have die marks thereon. The puzzle is solved by assembling the pyramid in a configuration in which the die markings on each visible face total thirteen.
In another patent of interest, U.S. Pat. No. 3,659,360, a construction set is disclosed for building a structure assembled from geometric parts having plane surfaces which may include adhesive means to interconnect the geometric parts selectively in a particular desired spatial relation. Of course, in some cases, the individual pieces may be hinged as in the polymorphic geometrical device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,992,829.
While the puzzles known in the prior art provide many hours of entertainment some do suffer from major drawbacks. When in their disassembled condition, the parts can be lost or misplaced, thereby making it impossible to complete the puzzle. Often, when partially assembled, some prior art puzzles require a high degree of manual dexterity to hold the pieces in their proper spatial orientation until other pieces locking the subgroup together are brought into position.
Recently, a cubic puzzle was introduced which had each of its six faces divided into nine discrete elements. These elements were interconnected in such a manner that any element could be moved with respect to any other element on the face; however, by doing so, the respective positions of other elements in the cube's other faces changed. The elements varied in color and the puzzle was solved when all of the elements on a face were the same color.